Nucleic Acid Extraction from Heterogeneous Biological Materials

ABSTRACT

Methods for extracting high quality nucleic acids from a heterogenous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials from a biological sample are disclosed. The heterogenous collection of nucleic-acid containing materials may contain cells or microvesicles, or both. The extractions obtained by the methods described herein are characterized by high yield and high integrity, making the extracted nucleic acids useful for various applications in which high quality nucleic acid extractions are preferred, e.g., a diagnosis, prognosis, or therapy evaluation for a medical condition.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a national stage application, filed under 35 U.S.C. §371, of PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/037443, filed May 11, 2012, which claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/485,112, filed May 11, 2011, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the general field of nucleic acid analysis, particularly the procurement and analysis of high quality nucleic acids from a sample of heterogeneous biological materials.

BACKGROUND

Increasing knowledge of the genetic and epigenetic changes occurring in cancer cells provides an opportunity to detect, characterize, and monitor tumors by analyzing tumor-related nucleic acid sequences and profiles. Cancer-related biomarkers include, e.g., specific mutations in gene sequences (Cortez and Calin, 2009; Diehl et al., 2008; Network, 2008; Parsons et al., 2008), up- and down-regulation of mRNA and miRNA expression (Cortez and Calin, 2009; Itadani et al., 2008; Novakova et al., 2009), mRNA splicing variations, changes in DNA methylation patterns (Cadieux et al., 2006; Kristensen and Hansen, 2009), amplification and deletion of genomic regions (Cowell and Lo, 2009), and aberrant expression of repeated DNA sequences (Ting et al., 2011). Various molecular diagnostic assays such as mutational analysis, methylation status of genomic DNA, and gene expression analysis may detect these biomarkers and provide valuable information for doctors, clinicians and researchers. These tests so far utilize cancer cells derived from surgically removed tumor tissue or from tissue obtained by biopsy.

However, the ability to perform these tests using a bodily fluid is oftentimes more desirable than using a patient tissue sample. A less invasive approach using a bodily fluid sample has wide ranging implications in terms of patient welfare, the ability to conduct longitudinal disease monitoring, and the ability to obtain expression profiles even when tissue cells are not easily accessible, e.g., in ovarian or brain cancer patients.

The present invention is directed to methods and systems for extracting high quality nucleic acid from a biological sample, preferably a fluid sample, and the resulting nucleic acid extractions. The subject methods, systems and extractions may be used in support of patient diagnostics, prognostics, theranostics, monitoring, predictive medicine, personalized medicine, integrated medicine, pharmacodiagnostics and diagnostic/prescription partnering (companion diagnostics).

SUMMARY

In general terms, the present invention is a new method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample utilizing principles of extraction enhancement and affinity exclusion to reduce heterogeneity in a sample containing a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials. A number of variations are possible, each of which is described below.

In all aspects of the invention as described herein, nucleic acid-containing materials refer to cells, microvesicles, RNA-protein complexes, and other nucleic acid-containing particles naturally found in biological samples. Examples of cells containing nucleic acids of special interest include, but are not limited to, circulating tumor cells and other cells that have undergone or are undergoing disease-related transformation, or other cells that contain genomic evidence of the physical status or health of an organism. Examples of microvesicles include, but are not limited to, exosomes, membrane vesicles, shedding microvesicles, microparticles, nanovesicles, apoptotic bodies, nanoparticles and membrane vesicles, and will collectively be referred to throughout this specification as “microvesicles” unless otherwise expressly denoted. Nucleic acid-containing materials may originate from, for example, a particular cell, organ or tissue of the body, or bodily fluid. For example, nucleic acid-containing materials can be detected or isolated from urine. Alternatively, a nucleic acid-containing material may originate from, for example, a tumor, hyperplastic growth, nodule, neoplasm, cyst, or mass. Nucleic acid-containing materials carry surface molecules, such as antigens, biomarkers, receptors, that may be used to identify, detect, isolate, enrich, or sort nucleic acid-containing materials from a specific donor cell type, tissue or organ of the body, or bodily fluid. Individual species of nucleic acid-containing materials may co-purify during extraction methods, as described herein. For example, circulating tumor cells may co-purify with microvesicles.

A “heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials,” as used herein, is a mixture of any of the foregoing species of nucleic acid-containing materials, e.g., cells, any species of microvesicle, RNA-protein complexes, and any other species of nucleic acid-containing particles, or any combination thereof. For example, a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials of the present invention includes cells or microvesicles, or both. In one aspect, a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials of the present invention is circulating tumor cells and microvesicles. In some embodiments, the mixture will comprise one or more cells in addition to any or all of the other species of nucleic acid-containing materials.

In one aspect, the invention is a method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising the steps of: obtaining a biological sample; performing a sample pre-processing step on the biological sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials; performing an extraction enhancement operation; and extracting nucleic acid from the resulting materials. There is no specified order to the performance of the sample pre-processing step and the extraction enhancement operation, and indeed, the two may be performed simultaneously. Preferably, this method will result in a nucleic acid extraction that meets one or more of the quality standards described below in terms of the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA, or nucleic acid yield. The heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials includes, but is not limited to, a mixture of nucleic acid-containing materials, which include, but are not limited to, cells or microvesicles, or both.

In another aspect, the invention is a method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising the steps of: obtaining a biological sample; performing a sample pre-processing step on the biological sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials; performing an affinity exclusion operation on the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials; and extracting nucleic acid from the resulting materials. Preferably, this method will result in a nucleic acid extraction that meets one or more of the quality standards described below in terms of the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA, or nucleic acid yield. The heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials includes, but is not limited to, a mixture of nucleic acid-containing materials, which include, but are not limited to, cells or microvesicles or both.

In yet another aspect, the invention is a method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising the steps of: obtaining a biological sample; performing a sample pre-processing step on the biological sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials; performing an extraction enhancement operation; performing an affinity exclusion operation on the resulting materials; and extracting nucleic acid from the remaining materials. There is no specified order to the performance of the sample pre-processing step and the extraction enhancement operation, and indeed, the two may be performed simultaneously. The affinity exclusion operation is performed at any time after the pre-processing step. Preferably, this method will result in a nucleic acid extraction that meets one or more of the quality standards described below in terms of the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA, or nucleic acid yield. The heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials includes, but is not limited to, a mixture of nucleic acid-containing materials, which include, but are not limited to, cells or microvesicles, or both.

In a further aspect, the invention is a nucleic acid extraction from a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials obtained from a eukaryotic biological sample, wherein 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA are detectable in the extraction. Preferably, the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA detectable in the nucleic acid extractions is within the range of approximately 1:1 to approximately 1:2; and is preferably approximately 1:2. Nucleic acid extractions of this nature are obtainable using any of the above-described methods.

In a further aspect, the invention is a nucleic acid extraction from a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials obtained from a bodily fluid sample with a protein concentration of less than 10 mg/ml, such as urine, where the nucleic acid extraction has a nucleic acid yield of great than or equal to 50 pg/ml from 20 ml of biological sample. Nucleic acid extractions of this nature are obtainable using any of the above-described methods.

In a still further aspect, the invention is a nucleic acid extraction from a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials obtained from a bodily fluid sample with a protein concentration of greater than 10 mg/ml, such as serum or plasma, wherein the nucleic acid extraction has a nucleic acid yield of greater than or equal to 50 pg/ml from 1 ml of biological sample. The heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials includes, but is not limited to, a mixture of nucleic-acid containing materials, which include, but are not limited to, cells or microvesicles. Nucleic acid extractions of this nature are obtained by using any of the above-described methods.

In yet another aspect, nucleic acid profiles are obtained by analyzing the nucleic acid extractions resulting from any of the foregoing methods.

In a further aspect, the invention is a kit for extracting nucleic acids from biological samples or heterogeneous nucleic acid-containing collection. Embodiments, variations, and examples of which are described below. The heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials includes, but is not limited to, a mixture of nucleic-acid containing materials, which include, but are not limited to, cells or microvesicles, or both.

All of the foregoing embodiments may include a sample pre-processing step which includes techniques for separating nucleic acid-containing materials from a biological sample. For example, methods of centrifugation, filtration concentration, and/or anion exchange and/or gel permeation chromatography can be used.

All of the foregoing embodiments may include an extraction enhancement operation step to remove or mitigate adverse factors that prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample. Extraction enhancement agents may include, but are not limited to, RNase inhibitor, protease, reducing agent, decoy substrate (e.g., synthetic RNA), soluble receptor, small interfering RNA, RNA binding molecule (e.g., anti-RNA antibody, chaperone protein, RNase inhibitory protein), or RNase denaturing substance (e.g., high osmolarity solution detergent), or any combination of the foregoing agents.

All of the foregoing embodiments may include an affinity exclusion operation, as described below, for reducing the heterogeneity of the fraction of nucleic acid-containing materials obtained from the preprocessing step. For example, the affinity exclusion operation may remove nucleic acid-containing materials that are not of interest. The depletion may be complete or partial. For example, in some instances a depletion of 50% of the undesirable materials would be sufficient to achieve a high quality nucleic acid extraction.

All of the foregoing embodiments may include an affinity enrichment operation, as described below, wherein affinity selection methods are used to enrich for nucleic acid-containing materials of a certain type or originating from a particular cell, tissue or organ of the body. For example, nucleic acid-containing materials from specific donor cells can be detected, selected, or enriched by the specific surface molecules known to be present.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a use for any of the nucleic acid extraction methods disclosed herein in any of a variety of known methods and techniques for analyzing nucleic acids in support of patient diagnostics, prognostics, theranostics, monitoring, predictive medicine, personalized medicine, integrated medicine, pharmacodiagnostics and diagnostic/prescription partnering (companion diagnostics). For example, the nucleic acid obtained from the practice of the extraction method is analyzed for the presence or absence of a genetic aberration associated with a disease or medical condition.

In any of the aspects of the present invention, a nucleic acid is, for example, DNA or RNA. The RNA can be, for example, coding RNA, e.g. messenger RNA which may encode proteins, or non-coding RNA (ncRNA), e.g., ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA, microRNA, and other non-coding transcripts that may originate from genomic DNA. Non-coding RNA transcripts may include, but are not limited to, transcripts that are transcribed from satellite repeats and transposons, which may be DNA transposons or retrotransposons. The DNA can be, for example, single stranded DNA, e.g. cDNA that is reverse transcribed from RNA or generated from DNA replication; double-stranded DNA; genomic DNA; non-coding DNA (ncDNA), e.g. satellite repeats, transposons, or retrotransposons; or any fragment or combination thereof.

In any of the aspects of the present invention, the biological sample can be any sample from an organism, for example, a mammal, and in particular, a human. Preferably, the biological sample is a bodily fluid such as urine, blood, serum or plasma, and may also include sputum, spinal fluid, pleural fluid, nipple aspirates, lymph fluid, fluid of the respiratory, intestinal, and genitourinary tracts, tear fluid, saliva, breast milk, fluid from the lymphatic system, semen, cerebrospinal fluid, intraorgan system fluid, ascitic fluid, tumor cyst fluid, amniotic fluid and combinations thereof.

In any of the aspects of the present invention, a biological sample may come from a subject. Examples of subjects include, but are not limited to, all animals shown to or expected to have nucleic acid-containing materials. In particular embodiments, the subject is a mammal, a human or nonhuman primate, a dog, a cat, a horse, a cow, other farm animals, or a rodent (e.g. mouse, rat, guinea pig, etc.).

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from and are encompassed by the following detailed description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart depicting a first aspect of the present invention directed to a new method of nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting a second aspect of the present invention directed to a new method of nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting a third aspect of the present invention directed to a new method of nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Nucleic Acid-Containing Materials and Heterogeneous Collections Thereof

Nucleic acid-containing biological materials are often used as starting materials for nucleic acid extraction and analysis. Cells are an example of a nucleic acid-containing biological material. Examples of cells containing nucleic acids of special interest include, but are not limited to, circulating tumor cells and other cells that have undergone or are undergoing disease-related transformation, or other cells that contain genomic evidence of the physical status or health of an organism. In addition, nucleic acids can be found in smaller materials ranging in size from about 10 nm in diameter to about 10000 nm in diameter. For example, “exosomes” have diameters of approximately 30 to 200 nm, with shedding microvesicles and apoptotic bodies often described as larger (Orozco and Lewis, 2010). Exosomes, shedding microvesicles, microparticles, nanovesicles, apoptotic bodies, nanoparticles and membrane vesicles co-isolate using various techniques and will, therefore, collectively be referred to throughout this specification as “microvesicles” unless otherwise expressly denoted. Other nucleic acid-containing materials, such as RNA-protein complexes, may co-isolate with cells and microvesicles using the various methods and techniques described herein. Accordingly, the generic term “nucleic acid-containing materials” will be used herein to refer to cells, microvesicles, RNA-protein complexes, and other nucleic acid containing particles naturally found in biological samples.

A “heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials,” as used herein, is a mixture of any of the foregoing species of nucleic acid-containing materials, e.g., cells, any species of microvesicle, RNA-protein complexes, and any other species of nucleic acid-containing particles. Preferably, the mixture will comprise one or more cells in addition to any or all of the other species of nucleic acid-containing materials.

Nucleic acid-containing materials may originate from particular cells, tissues or organs of the body, or bodily fluids. In particular, nucleic acid-containing materials may be isolated from urine, plasma, or serum. In some embodiments, nucleic acid-containing materials may originate from a tumor, hyperplastic growth, nodule, neoplasm, cyst, or mass. Nucleic acid-containing materials often carry surface molecules such as antigens, biomarkers, or receptors from their donor cells. These surface molecules may be used to detect, identify, isolate, sort, and/or enrich nucleic acid-containing materials from a specific donor cell type (Al-Nedawi et al., 2008; Taylor and Gercel-Taylor, 2008). In this way, nucleic acid-containing materials originating from distinct cell populations can be analyzed for their nucleic acid content. For example, tumor (malignant and non-malignant) nucleic acid-containing materials carry tumor-associated surface antigen and may be detected, isolated, or enriched via these specific tumor-associated surface antigens.

Nucleic Acid Extraction Methods

In a first embodiment, the invention is a method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising the steps of: obtaining a biological sample; performing a sample pre-processing step on the biological sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials (preferably said heterogeneous collection comprises cells in addition to other nucleic acid-containing materials); performing an extraction enhancement operation; and extracting nucleic acid from the resulting materials. There is no specified order to the performance of the sample pre-processing step and the extraction enhancement operation, and indeed, the two may be performed simultaneously. Preferably, this method will result in a nucleic acid extraction that meets one or more of the quality standards described below in terms of the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA, or nucleic acid yield.

One variation of this first embodiment is shown in FIG. 1, wherein the method comprises the steps of obtaining a biological sample (100), pre-processing the sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials (110), performing an extraction enhancement operation on the fraction (120), and extracting nucleic acid from the fraction (130).

In variations of this first embodiment, the extraction enhancement operation is performed prior to the sample pre-processing, or the pre-processing and extraction enhancement operations are performed simultaneously.

In further variations, there may be an additional step of removing nucleic acids that are not located inside the cells or microvesicles that may be part of the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials. Methods of removing nucleic acids are well known in the art. For example, an enzyme digestion step may be performed at any point in the process, e.g., prior to sample pre-processing, prior to performance of the enhancement extraction operation, or prior to nucleic acid extraction. Such enzymes may be a type of ribonuclease that catalyzes the enzymatic digestion of ribonucleic acids or a type of deoxyribonuclease that catalyzes the enzymatic digestion of deoxyribonucleic acids.

The biological sample can be any sample from an organism, for example, a mammal, and in particular, a human. Preferably, the biological sample is a bodily fluid such as urine, blood, serum or plasma, and may also include sputum, spinal fluid, pleural fluid, nipple aspirates, lymph fluid, fluid of the respiratory, intestinal, and genitourinary tracts, tear fluid, saliva, breast milk, fluid from the lymphatic system, semen, cerebrospinal fluid, intraorgan system fluid, ascitic fluid, tumor cyst fluid, amniotic fluid and combinations thereof.

A biological sample may sometimes come from a subject. The term “subject” is intended to include all animals shown to or expected to have nucleic acid-containing materials. In particular embodiments, the subject is a mammal, a human or nonhuman primate, a dog, a cat, a horse, a cow, other farm animals, or a rodent (e.g. mouse, rat, guinea pig, etc.). The terms “subject,” “individual” and “patient” are used interchangeably herein and have the same meaning.

The sample pre-processing step provides certain advantages not present in nucleic acid extraction methods of the prior art that do not employ a pre-processing step to obtain from the sample a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials. For example, the methods of the present invention, employing as they all do, a pre-processing step, (1) tend to produce significantly higher yields of extracted nucleic acid with higher integrity; (2) provide advantages associated with scalability, e.g., when used in support of an assay to detect nucleic acids expressed in a subject at low levels, the sensitivity of the assay can be increased by isolating, in the pre-processing step, more nucleic acid-containing materials from a larger volume of sample fluid; (3) purer nucleic acids in that protein and lipids, debris from dead cells, and other potential contaminants and PCR inhibitors can be excluded from the nucleic acid-containing materials isolated in the preprocessing step; and (4) more choices in nucleic acid extraction tools and techniques as the fraction comprising nucleic acid-containing materials that results from the pre-processing step is typically of much smaller volume than the starting sample volume, making it possible to extract nucleic acids from the fraction using small volume tools and techniques such as small volume column filters.

The sample pre-processing step may be any of several known techniques for separating nucleic acid-containing materials from a biological sample. For example, a method of isolating circulating tumor cells is described in a paper by Stott et al. (Stott et al., 2010), a method of differential centrifugation is described in a paper by Raposo et al. (Raposo et al., 1996), a paper by Skog et. al. (Skog et al., 2008) and a paper by Nilsson et al. (Nilsson et al., 2009). Methods of anion exchange and/or gel permeation chromatography are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,899,863 and 6,812,023. Methods of sucrose density gradients or organelle electrophoresis are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,923. A method of magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) is described in a paper by Taylor and Gercel-Taylor (Taylor and Gercel-Taylor, 2008). Methods of filtration concentration are described in a paper by Cheruvanky et al. (Cheruvanky et al., 2007) and in PCT Publication No. WO2011/009104 (Russo et al.). Further, microvesicles can be identified and isolated from bodily fluid of a subject by a newly developed microchip technology that uses a unique microfluidic platform to efficiently and selectively separate tumor-derived microvesicles (Chen et al., 2010). Each of the foregoing references is incorporated by reference herein for its teaching of these methods.

The purpose of the extraction enhancement step is to remove or mitigate adverse factors that prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample. In some biological samples, factors such as excessive circulating DNA may affect the quality of nucleic acid extraction from such samples and contaminate DNA extracted from within nucleic acid-containing materials. In other samples, factors such as excessive levels of endogenous RNase may affect the quality of nucleic acid extraction from such samples. Many agents and methods may be used to remove these adverse factors. These methods and agents are referred to collectively herein as an “extraction enhancement operation.”

In some instances, the extraction enhancement operation may involve the addition of nucleic acid extraction enhancement agents to the biological sample or various derivatives of the sample at any given stage of the process. For the purpose of removing adverse factors such as endogenous RNase, extraction enhancement agents may include, but are not limited to, a commercially available RNase inhibitor such as Superase-In (Ambion Inc.), RNaseIN (Promega Corp.), or other agents that function in a similar fashion; a protease; a reducing agent; a decoy substrate such as a synthetic RNA; a soluble receptor that can bind RNase; a small interfering RNA (siRNA); an RNA binding molecule, such as an anti-RNA antibody, or a chaperone protein; an RNase denaturing substance, such as a high osmolarity solution, a detergent, or a combination thereof. These enhancement agents may exert their functions in various ways, for example, but not limited to, through inhibiting RNase activity (e.g., RNase inhibitors), through a ubiquitous degradation of proteins (e.g., proteases), or through a chaperone protein (e.g., a RNA-binding protein) that binds and protects RNA. In all instances, such extraction enhancement agents remove or mitigate some or all of the adverse factors in the biological sample that would otherwise prevent or interfere with the high quality extraction of nucleic acids from the sample.

In other instances, the extraction enhancement operation may involve the performance of one or more process steps. Such processes include extensive or substantially thorough washing of nucleic acid-containing components of the fraction or sample; size separation of RNases from the biological sample; denaturation of proteins in the biological sample by various techniques including, but not limited to, generating a particular pH condition, a temperature condition, (e.g., the maintenance of a decreasing or lower temperature), freeze/thaw cycles, and combinations thereof.

Thus, the extraction enhancement operation is comprised of: (a) the addition of one or more enhancement agents to the biological sample; or (b) the performance of one or more enhancement steps prior to nucleic acid extraction; or (c) a combination of enhancement agents and enhancement steps. The enhancement agents may include: (i) RNase inhibitor; (ii) protease; (iii) reducing agent; (iv) decoy substrate, such as synthetic RNA; (v) soluble receptor; (vi) small interfering RNA; (vii) RNA binding molecule, such as anti-RNA antibody, chaperone protein, or an RNase inhibitory protein; and (ix) RNase denaturing substance, such as high osmolarity solution or detergent. The extraction enhancement steps may include: (x) washing; (xi) size-separating RNase from the sample; (xii) effecting RNase denaturation through a physical change, such as by decreasing temperature, or executing a freeze/thaw cycle.

In variations in which the extraction enhancement operation involves the addition of an RNase inhibitor, the RNase inhibitor may be added to the biological sample or to the fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials prior to extracting nucleic acid. Preferably the RNase inhibitor has a concentration of greater than 0.027 AU (1×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; alternatively, greater than or equal to 0.135 AU (5×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; alternatively, greater than or equal to 0.27 AU (10×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; alternatively, greater than or equal to 0.675 AU (25×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; and alternatively, greater than or equal to 1.35 AU (50×) for a sample equal to or more than wherein the 1× protease concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.027 AU or more protease is used to treat microvesicles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid; the 5× protease concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.135 AU or more protease is used to treat microvesicles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid; the 10× protease concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.27 AU or more protease is used to treat microvesicles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid; the 25× protease concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.675 AU or more protease is used to treat microvesicles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid; the 50× protease concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 1.35 AU or more protease is used to treat microvesicles isolated from or more bodily fluid. Preferably, the RNase inhibitor is a protease.

The nucleic acid extraction step may be performed using procedures that are well-known in the art. Persons of skill will select a particular extraction procedure as appropriate for the particular biological sample. Examples of extraction procedures are provided in patent publications WO/2009/100029 and WO/2011/009104, each of which is incorporated by reference herein for its teaching of these procedures as well as any other procedures mentioned herein. In some instances, with some techniques, it may also be possible to analyze the nucleic acid without first extracting it from the nucleic acid-containing materials.

In a second embodiment, the invention is a method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising the steps of: obtaining a biological sample; performing a sample pre-processing step on the biological sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials; performing an affinity exclusion operation on the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials; and extracting nucleic acid from the resulting materials. The biological sample, pre-processing step, and nucleic acid extraction step are all as described above in relation to the first embodiment. Preferably, this method will result in a nucleic acid extraction that meets one or more of the quality standards described below in terms of the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA, or nucleic acid yield.

One variation of this second embodiment is shown in FIG. 2, wherein the method comprises the steps of obtaining a biological sample (200), pre-processing the sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials (210), performing an affinity exclusion operation (220), and extracting nucleic acids from the affinity reduced fraction (230).

The affinity exclusion operation is a novel means for reducing the heterogeneity of the fraction of nucleic acid-containing materials obtained from the preprocessing step. Instead of using affinity selection techniques to enrich for nucleic-acid containing materials of interest, in the affinity exclusion operation, affinity techniques are used to remove nucleic-acid containing materials that are not of interest (e.g., nucleic acid containing materials originating from a cell type that is not of interest in a biomarker assay to be performed on the extracted nucleic acid). For example, using the methods and techniques described herein, epithelial cells, erythrocytes, leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, basophils, thrombocytes, fibroblasts, and mesenchymal cells may be eliminated from the sample prior to execution of the nucleic acid extraction step. The depletion may be complete or partial. For example, in some instances a depletion of 50% of the undesirable materials would be sufficient to achieve a high quality nucleic acid extraction.

Because nucleic acid-containing materials often carry surface molecules such as antigens from their donor cells, surface molecules may be used to identify and deplete nucleic acid-containing materials originating from a specific donor cell type. In one example, the surface molecule used in the affinity exclusion operation is a molecule specific to cell type, e.g., but not limited to, any of the cell-type markers listed in Table 1. Alternatively, depending upon assay design, the surface molecule used in the affinity exclusion operation may be a surface molecule listed in Table 2 if nucleic acid-containing materials originating from a specific tumor cell type are to be excluded in the assay.

TABLE 1 Examples of Cell-Type Specific Markers. Cell types and Markers References I. For positive selection: A. Epithelial cell markers: CD51 (Siegel et al, 2009) Cytokeratin 8 (Punnoose et al, 2010) Cytokeratin 18 (Punnoose et al, 2010) Cytokeratin 19 (Punnoose et al., 2010) E-cadherin (CD324, Cadherin-1) (Punnoose et al., 2010) EpCAM (ESA; Epithelial cell adhesion (Shmelkov et al., 2008) molecule; CD326) Mucin 1 (EMA, Epithelial membrane (Matthews et al., 1988) antigen; CA15-3; CD227) ZO-1 (Siegel et al., 2009) II. For negative selection from urine samples A. Erythrocyte (RBC) markers: AE1 (Band 3) (Ding et al., 2004) BGP1 (Lewis et al, 1988) CD47 (Oldenborg et al., 2000) Globin (Min-Oo et al., 2004) Glycophorin A (GPA) (Shan et al., 1998; Telen and Chasis, 1990) Rh polypeptides and Rh glycoprotein (Agre et al., 1990; Avent et al., 1996) TER119 (Jiang et al., 2005; Kobayashi et al., 2004) Transferrin receptor (CD71) (Min-Oo et al., 2004; Tao et al., 2000) B. Leukocyte (WBC) markers: Beta2 Leukocyte Integrins (CD11/CD18) (Flaherty et al., 1997) CD45RA/CD45RB/CD45RO (Bembridge et al., 1993; Lai et al., 1991; Masuoka et al., 1992) CD166 (ALCAM, activated leukocyte cell (Lunter et al., 2005) adhesion molecule) HLA (human leukocyte antigen) (Guerini et al., 2006) LAM-1 (leukocyte adhesion molecule-1) (Kansas et al., 1991) L-selectin (Tu et al., 2002; Venturi et al., 2003) LSP1 (leukocyte-specific protein-1) (Hannigan et al, 2001; Marafioti et al, 2004) Ly-9 (de la Fuente et al, 2001) M6 (leukocyte activation antigen) (Kasinrerk et al, 1992) III. For negative selection from blood samples A. Same as II A and II B B. Neutrophil markers: 31D8 (Gallin et al., 1986; Spiekermann et al., 1996) CD11b- also a monocyte marker (De Clerck et al., 1995) CD15 CD18 (De Clerck et al., 1995) CD45 CD64 (Matsui et al., 2006) Gelatinase (Borregaard et al., 1995) Mac-1 C. Lymphocyte markers: T-cells: CD3, CD5, T cell receptor (TCR) (Berrington et al., 2005) B-cells: MHC class II, CD19, CD21 (Berrington et al., 2005) NK-cells: CD16, CD56, NKp46, NKp44 (Berrington et al., 2005) D. Monocyte/Macrophase markers: 125I-WVH-1 (Fayle et al, 1985) CD11b - also a neutrophil marker (Fink et al., 2003) CD14 (Jonas et al., 1990; Ruppert et al., 1991) FcRI and FcRII (Clement et al., 1985) HLA-DR Ki-M1p (Rudolph et al., 1997) p-selectin E. Basophil markers: 2D7 (Agis et al., 2006b; Kepley et al., 1995) Basogranulin (BB1) (Agis et al., 2006a) Bsp-1 (Valent et al., 1990) CCR-3 (eotaxin receptor) (Ducrest et al., 2005) CD203-C (E-NPP3) (Sainte-Laudy and Belon, 2006) CDw-17 (lactosylceramide) (Yokohama et al., 2002) CD88 (Yokohama et al., 2002) F. Thrombocyte (platelet) marker: CD36 (Thibert et al., 1995) G. Dendritic cell marker: CD83 CD11c CD1a H. Endothelial cells CD31 IV. Other type markers A. Fibroblast marker: Fibroblast-specific protein 1 (FSP1) (Nishitani et al, 2005; Strutz et al, 1995) MAb AS02 Thy. 1 B. Mesenchymal marker: CD29 (Siegel et al., 2009) N-cadherin (Li et al., 2011) Vimentin (Punnoose et al., 2010) C. Glioblastoma cells marker: EGFRvIII protein (Al-Nedawi et al., 2008) PDGFR IL13Ra2 CD 133 chondroitin proteoglycan Sulfate 3′-isoLM1 3′6′-isoLD1 GPNMB MRP3 podoplanin D. HERV particle marker HERV env

In variations of this second embodiment, the method may additionally comprise an extraction enhancement operation, as described above in relation to the first embodiment. The extraction enhancement operation may be performed at any time in the process prior to the final nucleic acid extraction step.

In further variations, there may be an additional step of removing nucleic acids that are not located inside the cells or microvesicles that may be part of the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials. Methods of removing nucleic acids are well known in the art. For example, an enzyme digestion step may be performed at any point in the process. Such enzymes may be a type of ribonuclease that catalyzes the enzymatic digestion of ribonucleic acids or a type of deoxyribonuclease that catalyzes the enzymatic digestion of deoxyribonucleic acids.

In a third embodiment, the invention is a method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising the steps of: obtaining a biological sample; performing a sample pre-processing step on the biological sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials; performing an extraction enhancement operation; performing an affinity exclusion operation; and extracting nucleic acid from the resulting materials. The biological sample, pre-processing step, extraction enhancement operation, affinity exclusion operation, and nucleic acid extraction step are all as described above in relation to the first and second embodiments.

In this embodiment, the sample pre-processing step must occur before the affinity exclusion operation, but the extraction enhancement operation may occur at any time prior to the nucleic acid extraction step.

Preferably, this embodiment too will result in a nucleic acid extraction that meets one or more of the quality standards described below in terms of the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA, or nucleic acid yield.

One variation of the method described in this embodiment is shown in FIG. 3, wherein the method comprises the steps of obtaining a biological sample (300), pre-processing the sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials (310), performing an affinity exclusion operation (320), performing an extraction enhancement operation (330), and extracting nucleic acids.

As with the first and second embodiments, this third embodiment may further comprise an additional step of removing nucleic acids that are not located inside the cells or microvesicles that may be part of the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials. Methods of removing nucleic acids are well known in the art. For example, an enzyme digestion step may be performed at any point in the process, e.g., prior to sample preprocessing, prior to performance of the enhancement extraction operation, or prior to nucleic acid extraction. Such enzymes may be a type of ribonuclease that catalyzes the enzymatic digestion of ribonucleic acids or a type of deoxyribonuclease that catalyzes the enzymatic digestion of deoxyribonucleic acids.

Affinity Enrichment.

All of the foregoing embodiments and variations of the nucleic acid extraction methods described above may further comprise an affinity enrichment operation, wherein affinity selection methods are used to enrich for nucleic acid-containing materials of a certain type or originating from a particular cell, tissue or organ of the body, e.g., lung, pancreas, stomach, intestine, bladder, kidney, ovary, testis, skin, colorectal, breast, prostate, brain, esophagus, liver, placenta, or fetus cells.

Because the nucleic acid-containing materials often carry surface molecules such as antigens from their donor cells, surface molecules may be used to identify, isolate and/or enrich for nucleic acid-containing materials from a specific donor cell type (Al-Nedawi et al., 2008; Taylor and Gercel-Taylor, 2008). In this way, nucleic acid-containing materials originating from distinct cell populations can be analyzed for their nucleic acid content. For example, tumor (malignant and non-malignant) nucleic acid-containing materials carry tumor-associated surface antigens and may be detected, isolated, or enriched via these specific tumor-associated surface antigens.

In one example, the surface antigen is epithelial-cell-adhesion-molecule (EpCAM), which is specific to nucleic acid-containing materials from carcinomas of lung, colorectal, breast, prostate, head and neck, and hepatic origin, but not of hematological cell origin (Balzar et al., 1999; Went et al., 2004).

In another example, the surface antigen is CD24, which is a glycoprotein specific to urine nucleic acid-containing materials (Keller et al., 2007).

In yet another example, the surface antigen is selected from a group of molecules such as CD70, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), EGFR, EGFRvIII and other variants, Fas ligand, TRAIL, transferrin receptor, p38.5, p97 and HSP72. Additionally, tumor specific nucleic acid-containing materials may be characterized by the lack of surface markers, such as CD80 and CD86.

In further examples, the surface antigens are any one of the tumor markers, listed in Table 2. The surface antigens in Table 2 may be used to perform an affinity enrichment operation so that nucleic acid-containing materials from a specific tumor cell type are enriched. Alternatively, depending upon the assay design, the surface antigen in the affinity enrichment operation may be any of the surface markers listed in the foregoing Table 1.

TABLE 2 Examples of Tumor Biomarkers BIOMARKER NAME(S) COMBINATION CANCER TYPE REFERENCES ABCB1 MDR1; P-glycoprotein 1; Acute myeloid leukemia (Young, 2007) ATP-binding cassette (AML), Pancreas Ovary (Fong and Kakar, 2010) subfamily B member 1 ABCB5 ATP-binding cassette Melanoma (Schatton et al, 2008) subfamily B member 5 ABCG2 CDw338; BCRP; Breast (Kim et al., 2002) ATP-binding cassette Ovary (Fong and Kakar, 2010) subfamily G member 2 AFP Alpha-fetoprotein Hepatocellular (Baig et al., 2009) ALDH1 Aldehyde ALDH1+/CD44+/ Breast (Ginestier et al., 2007) dehydrogenase 1 CD24−/lin− ALDH1 Aldehyde Hematopoietic (Matsui et al., 2004) dehydrogenase 1 Lung (Jiang et al., 2009) APOE Apolipoprotein E, Ovary (Chen et al., 2005) apo E BIRC5 Survivin; baculoviral Lung (Falleni et al., 2003) inhibitor of apoptosis repeat-containing 5 CD15 leuM1; 3-fucosyl-N- Breast, (Ball, 1995) acetyl- colorectal, lactosamine leukemia, lung CD20 B-lymphocyte B-cell (Coiffier, 2007) antigen 20 lymphoma, leukemia CD24 HSA; heat stable CD24+/CD44+/ Pancreas (Li et al., 2007) antigen CD24 EpCAM+ CD24 HSA; heat stable Colon, (Lim and Oh, 2005; antigen CD24 gallbladder, Sagiv et al., 2006) ovary, pancreas, stomach CD34 CD34 molecule; CD34+/CD10− Leukemia (Cox et al., 2004) Hematopoietic CD34+/CD38− AML (Kojima and Kitamura, 1999) progenitor cell antigen CD34 CD44 CD44 molecule CD44+/CD24−/ Breast (Al-Hajj et al, 2003) (Indian blood low Breast (Al-Hajj et al., 2003) group) CD44+/CD24−/ Gliomas (Galli et al., 2004; low/lin− AML Hemmati et al., 2003; CD44+/CD24− Prostate Ignatova et al., 2002; CD44+/CD24− Breast Lee et al., 2006; CD44+/CD24− Colon Singh et al., 2003; CD44+/CD24 Ovary Singh et al., 2004; low/EpCAM+ Bladder Uchida et al., 2000; CD44+/EpCA M+ Bladder Yuan et al., 2004) CD44+/MYD8 8+ (Bonnet and Dick, 1997; CD44+/CD117+/ Ishikawa et al., 2007; CD 133+ Lapidot et al., 1994) CD44+/K5+/K20− (Hurt et al., 2008) CD44+/CD44v 6+/ (Fillmore and Kuperwasser, 2008) EMA− (Boman and Huang, 2008) (Alvero et al., 2009) (Fong and Kakar, 2010) (Chan et al., 2009) (Yang and Chang, 2008) CD44 CD44 molecule AML Head and (Jin et al., 2006) (Indian blood neck (Prince et al., 2007) group) CD47 MER6; IAP; Bladder (Chan et al., 2009) immunoglobulin- like transmembrane integrin- associated protein CD90 Thy-1, thymocyte CD90+/CD44+ Liver (Yang et al., 2008) differentiation antigen 1 CD96 CD96; Tactile; T- Leukemia (Hosen et al., 2007) cell activation increased late expression CD133 PROM1, CD133+/ABCG2+ Melanoma (Monzani et al., 2007) prominin-1 CD133+/CD44+ Colon (Dallas et al., 2009) CD133 PROM1, Brain (Bao et al., 2006a; prominin-1 Colon Hemmati et al., 2003; Hepatocellular Liu et al., 2006; Lung Singh et al., 2003; Ovary Singh et al., 2004; Pancreas Taylor et al. ,2005; Prostate Zeppernick et al., 2008) Skin (O'Brien ct al., 2007; Ricci-Vitiani et al., 2007; Todaro et al., 2007) (Smith et al., 2008) (Eramo et al., 2008) (Fernandina et al., 2008) (Hermann et al., 2007; Li et al., 2007) (Collins et al., 2005) (Monzani et al., 2007) CD142 Tissue factor; Breast, (Zwicker et al., 2009) platelet tissue colorectal, lung, factor; factor III; pancreas thrombokinase CD147 EMMPRIN; Prostate (Zhong et al., 2011) extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer; basigin CD326 CD326; Flotillin Breast, colon, (Naundorf et al., 2002) GI, ovary (Oberneder et al., 2006) Prostate CEA Carcinoembryonic Colon (Thomas et al., 2009) antigen CLDN3 Claudin 3 Ovary (Hough et al., 2001; Rangel et al., 2003) CLDN4 Claudin 4 Ovary (Hough et al., 2001; Rangel et al., 2003) CLDN7 Claudin 7 Ovary (Hough et al., 2001) CTSB Cathepsin B Glioma (Strojnik et al., 2007) CXCL1 GRO-alpha; Chemokine Bladder (Kawanishi et al., 2008) (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 CXCR4 Chemokine Colon (Ottaiano et al., 2005) receptor type 4 Gliomas (Dirks, 2001; Liu et al., 2006; Melanoma Salmaggi et al., 2006) Prostate (Alsayed et al., 2007) (Sun et al., 2005) EpCAM ESA; Epithelial EpCAM+/CD45− Breast, (Allard et al., 2004) cell adhesion colorectal, molecule; CD326 prostate EpCAM ESA; Epithelial Colon, prostate (Ammons et al., 2003; cell adhesion Goel et al., 2007; molecule; CD326 Oberneder et al., 2006) EGFR1 erbB-1; HER1; Anal (Walker et al., 2009) Epidermal growth Breast (Neve et al., 2006) factor receptor 1 Glioblastoma (Heimberger et al., 2005) Lung (Jackman ct al., 2009; Punnoose et al., 2010) EGFRvIII Mutant EGFR GBM (Pelloski et al., 2007) FOLH1 Folate hydrolase 1; PSM; Prostate (Chang et al., 1999; PSMA, Prostate specific Ross ct al., 2003) membrane antigen FOLR1 Folate receptor Ovary (Kalli et al., 2008) alpha GDIa ganglioside Ovary (Prinetti et al., 2010) GFAP Glial fibrillary Glioblastoma (Hill et al., 2003) acidic protein GYPA Glycophorin A; CD235a Leukemia (Andersson et al., 1979) HER2 erbB-2; neu; Human epidermal Breast (Korkaya et al., 2008) growth factor Uterus (Santin et al., 2008) receptor 2 HLA-G Human leukocyte Ovary (Sheu and Shih Ie, 2007) antigen-G HPN Hepsin; TMPRSS1 Prostate (Dhanasekaran et al., 2001) KLK2 Kallikrein 2 Prostate (Magklara et al., 1999; Partin et al., 1999; Rittenhouse et al., 1998) KLK3 PSA; Kallikrein Prostate (Rittenhouse et al., 1998) 3; prostate specific antigen KLK5 Kallikrein 5 Ovary (Yousef et al., 2003a; (Yousef et al., 2003b) KLK6 Kallikrein 6 Ovary (Yousef et al., 2003b) KLK7 Kallikrein 7 Ovary (Yousef et al., 2003b) KLK8 Kallikrein 8 Ovary (Hoffman et al., 2002; Yousef et al., 2003b) KLK10 Kallikrein 10 Ovary (Luo et al., 2001; Yousef et al., 2003b) KLK11 Kallikrein 11 Ovary (Yousef et al., 2003b) KLK14 Kallikrein 14 Breast (Borgono et al., 2003) Ovary (Borgono et al., 2003; Yousef et al., 2003b) Keratane sulfates Papillary thyroid (Magro et al., 2003) carcinoma L1CAM CD171; L1 cell Gliomas (Bao et al., 2008) adhesion molecule LMP1 EBV latent Lymphoblastoma (Flanagan et al., 2003) membrane protein 1 MET c-Met; HGFR; Breast (Neve et al., 2006) hepatocyte growth factor receptor MSLN Mesothelin Mesothelioma (Chang and Pastan, 1996) Ovary (Chang and Pastan, 1996; Pancreas Lu et al., 2004) (Agarwal et al., 2008) MUC 1 Mucin 1; CD227 Breast (McGuckin et al., 1995; Colon Taylor-Papadimitriou et al, 1999) (Niv, 2008) MUC4 Mucin 4 Ovary (Shih Ie and Davidson, 2009) MUC 16 Mucin 16; CA Ovary (Yin et al., 2002; 125 ovarian Yin and Lloyd, 2001) cancer antigen OPN BSP-1; BNSP; Ovary (Rosen et al., 2005; Osteopontin; bone Visintin et al., 2008) sialoprotein I PCA-3 DD3; Prostate Prostate (Laxman et al., 2008) cancer antigen 3 PNCAM Polysialic acid or polysialylated Prolactinoma (Gurlek et al., 2007) NCAM (a posttranslational Neuroendocrine (Figarella-Branger et al., 1990; modification of NCAM, neural Small-cell lung Jin et al., 1991) cell adhesion molecule) carcinoma (Komminoth et al., 1991) PTK7 Protein tyrosine T-cell acute (Shangguan et al., 2008) kinase 7 lymphoblastic leukemia TMPRSS2: ERG Transmembrane Prostate (Hessels et al., 2007; protease, serine 2: Ets Laxman et al., 2008) related gene VEGF Vascular endothelial Gliomas (Bao et al., 2006b) growth factor

One of skill in the art will appreciate that the surface markers described in Tables 1 and 2 may be used interchangeably for an affinity exclusion operation or an affinity enrichment operation depending on the objectives of a given assay and nucleic acid extraction method practiced according to the teachings of this disclosure. For example, on the one hand, the surface markers for fibroblasts may be used to exclude fibroblast-derived nucleic acid-containing materials when a procedure for evaluating glioblastoma biomarkers is performed. On the other hand, the surface markers for fibroblasts may be used to enrich fibroblast-derived nucleic acid-containing materials when a procedure for evaluating fibroblastoma is performed.

An affinity procedure for depletion or enrichment of nucleic acid-containing materials from a specific cell type may be accomplished, for example, by using antibodies, aptamers, aptamer analogs or molecularly imprinted polymers specific for a desired surface antigen (hereinafter “affinity agent(s)”). In one embodiment, the surface antigen is specific for a cancer type. In another embodiment, the surface antigen is specific for a cell type which is not necessarily cancerous.

One example of a method of nucleic acid-containing material separation based on cell surface antigen is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,923. There CD81 antibody was used to enrich CD81 antigen-containing exosomes to prepare HCV RNA from a blood sample.

Another example is described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,840,867 and 5,582,981, WO/2003/050290 and a publication by Johnson et al. (Johnson et al., 2008). There, aptamers and their analogs that specifically bind surface molecules were used as a separation tool for enriching cell type-specific nucleic acid-containing materials. In addition, molecularly imprinted polymers may also specifically recognize surface molecules as described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,525,154, 7,332,553 and 7,384,589 and a publication by Bossi et al. (Bossi et al., 2007) and may also be a tool for retrieving and isolating cell type specific nucleic acid containing materials. Each of the foregoing references is incorporated herein for its teaching of these methods.

Quality Standards for Nucleic Acid Extractions.

The nucleic acid extractions obtained by the novel methods described herein are characterized by high yield and high integrity, making the extracted nucleic acids useful for various applications in which high quality nucleic acid extractions are required or preferred.

As mentioned above, the performance of any of the various nucleic acid extraction methods according to the present invention preferably results in a nucleic acid extraction that meets one or more of the quality standards described below in terms of the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA, or nucleic acid yield.

Preferably, the nucleic acid extraction methods of this invention will result in a nucleic acid extraction in which one can detect significant quantities of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), specifically 18S and 28S rRNA, preferably in a ratio of approximately 1:1 to approximately 1:2; and more preferably, in a ratio of approximately 1:2.

Further, the nucleic acid extraction methods of the present invention will preferably result in improved yields of extracted nucleic acid. For example, using the methods described herein, one may obtain a nucleic acid yield of greater than or equal to 50 pg/ml from a 20 ml low protein biological sample such as urine. Alternatively, one may obtain a nucleic acid yield of greater than or equal to 50 pg/ml from 1 ml of a high protein biological sample, such as scrum or plasma.

Thus, the novel nucleic acid extractions obtained by the methods described herein preferably meet one or more of the following quality standards: (1) the detection of 18S and 28S rRNA, preferably in a ratio of approximately 1:1 to approximately 1:2; and more preferably, approximately 1:2; and/or (2) a nucleic acid yield of greater than or equal to 50 pg/ml from a 20 ml low protein biological sample or a 1 ml high protein biological sample.

Use of the nucleic acid extraction methods, and resulting nucleic acid extractions, in nucleic acid analysis for research and clinical applications.

The nucleic acid extraction methods of the present invention may be used to produce novel and improved nucleic acid extractions for various applications, including but not limited to analysis of nucleic acid for research (e.g., research in support of the discovery of new biomarkers or biomarker associations) or clinical analysis of nucleic acid in aid of patient diagnostics, prognostics, theranostics, monitoring, predictive medicine, personalized medicine, integrated medicine, pharmacodiagnostics and diagnostic/prescription partnering (companion diagnostics).

In one embodiment, the extracted nucleic acids, including DNA and/or RNA, are analyzed directly without an amplification step. Direct analysis may be performed with different methods including, but not limited to, nanostring technology. NanoString technology enables identification and quantification of individual target molecules in a biological sample by attaching a color coded fluorescent reporter to each target molecule. This approach is similar to the concept of measuring inventory by scanning barcodes. Reporters can be made with hundreds or even thousands of different codes allowing for highly multiplexed analysis. The technology is described in a publication by Geiss et al. (Geiss et al., 2008) and is incorporated herein by reference for this teaching.

In another embodiment, it may be beneficial or otherwise desirable to amplify the nucleic acid prior to analyzing it. Methods of nucleic acid amplification are commonly used and generally known in the art, many examples of which are described herein. If desired, the amplification can be performed such that it is quantitative. Quantitative amplification will allow quantitative determination of relative amounts of the various nucleic acids, to generate a profile as described below.

In one embodiment, the extracted nucleic acid is RNA. The RNA is then preferably reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA) before further amplification. Such reverse transcription may be performed alone or in combination with an amplification step. One example of a method combining reverse transcription and amplification steps is reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which may be further modified to be quantitative, e.g., quantitative RT-PCR as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,606, which is incorporated herein by reference for this teaching.

Nucleic acid amplification methods include, without limitation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,727) and its variants such as in situ polymerase chain reaction (U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,871), quantitative polymerase chain reaction (U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,727), nested polymerase chain reaction (U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,773), self-sustained sequence replication and its variants (Guatelli et al., 1990), transcriptional amplification system and its variants (Kwoh et al., 1989), Qb Replicase and its variants (Miele et al., 1983), cold-PCR (Li et al., 2008), or any other nucleic acid amplification methods, followed by the detection of the amplified molecules using techniques well known to those of skill in the art. Especially useful are those detection schemes designed for the detection of nucleic acid molecules if such molecules are present in very low numbers. The foregoing references are

The analysis of nucleic acids present in the nucleic acid-containing materials may be quantitative and/or qualitative. For quantitative analysis, the amounts (expression levels), either relative or absolute, of specific nucleic acids of interest within the nucleic acid-containing materials are measured with methods known in the art (described below). For qualitative analysis, the species of specific nucleic acids of interest within the nucleic acid-containing materials, whether wild type or variants, are identified with methods known in the art.

Nucleic Acid Profiles.

The invention further includes a novel, high-quality profile of nucleic acids from a biological sample. Such profiles are generated by performing any of the various embodiments and variations of the nucleic acid extraction methods disclosed herein, and analyzing the resulting nucleic acid.

A profile, as the term is used herein, refers to a collection of characteristics, which can be determined through the quantitative or qualitative analysis of one or more biological components or materials (such as nucleic acid) contained in a sample (such as a nucleic acid extraction obtained by any of the methods disclosed herein). A reference profile is a profile obtained from an independent subject or from the same subject at a different time point.

The nucleic acids of the profile can be RNA. RNA can be coding RNA, e.g., messenger RNA which may encode proteins. RNA can also be non-coding RNA (ncRNA), e.g., ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA, microRNA, and other non-coding transcripts that may originate from genomic DNA. These non-coding RNA transcripts may include transcripts that are transcribed from satellite repeats and transposons, which may be DNA transposons or retrotransposons.

The nucleic acids can also be DNA. DNA can be single-stranded DNA, e.g., cDNA, that is reverse transcribed from RNA. The DNA can also be single-stranded DNA that is generated during DNA replication. Genomic DNA replicates in the nucleus while the cell is dividing. Some of the replicated DNA may come off its template, be exported out of nucleus, and packaged in microvesicles. It is also possible for the DNA to be double-stranded DNA. In addition, the DNA can be non-coding DNA (ncDNA).

High quality nucleic acid profiles are highly desirable for many uses, such as for research (e.g., research in support of the discovery of new biomarkers or biomarker associations) or clinical uses such as patient diagnostics, prognostics, theranostics, monitoring, predictive medicine, personalized medicine, integrated medicine, pharmacodiagnostics and diagnostic/prescription partnering (companion diagnostics). It is desirable in that such profiles are consistent between samples. Such consistency cannot be achieved without high quality nucleic acid extractions.

In one embodiment, the nucleic acid profile includes one or more genetic aberrations, which is used herein to refer to nucleic acid amounts as well as nucleic acid variants. Preferably, the nucleic acid is endogenous to the subject. Genetic aberrations include, without limitation, over-expression of one or more genomic elements, underexpression of one or more genomic elements, alternative production of splice variants of one or more genomic elements, copy number variants (CNV) of one or more genomic elements (e.g. DNA double minutes) (Hahn, 1993), nucleic acid modifications (e.g., methylation, acetylation and phosphorylations), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), chromosomal rearrangements (e.g., inversions, deletions and duplications), and mutations (insertions, deletions, duplications, missense, nonsense, synonymous or any other nucleotide changes) of one or more genomic elements, which mutations, in many cases, ultimately affect the activity and function of the genome, lead to alternative transcriptional splice variants and/or changes of gene expression level.

The nucleic acids in the nucleic acid-containing materials can be any type of nucleic acid, including but not limited to the examples provided herein. In the category of RNA, the nucleic acids can be coding RNA, e.g., messenger RNA which may encode proteins; non-coding RNA (ncRNA), e.g., ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA, microRNA, and other non-coding transcripts that may originate from genomic DNA. Non-coding RNA transcripts may include transcripts that are transcribed from satellite repeats and transposons, which may be DNA transposons or retrotransposons. In the category of DNA, the nucleic acids can include single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), e.g., cDNA, which is reverse transcribed from RNA and ssDNA that is generated during DNA replication; double-stranded DNA (dsDNA); DNA that codes for proteins (coding DNA); and DNA that does not code for proteins, i.e., non-coding DNA (ncDNA).

The determination of such genetic aberrations can be performed by a variety of techniques known to the skilled practitioner. For example, expression levels of nucleic acids, alternative splicing variants, chromosome rearrangement and gene copy numbers can be determined by microarray analysis (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,913,879, 7,364,848, 7,378,245, 6,893,837 and 6,004,755) and quantitative PCR. Particularly, copy number changes may be detected with the Illumina Infinium II whole genome genotyping assay or Agilent Human Genome CGH Microarray (Steemers et al., 2006). Nucleic acid modifications can be assayed by methods described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,186,512 and patent publication WO/2003/023065. Particularly, methylation profiles may be determined by, e.g., the Illumina DNA Methylation OMA003 Cancer Panel. SNPs and mutations can be detected by hybridization with allele-specific probes, enzymatic mutation detection, chemical cleavage of mismatched heteroduplex (Cotton et al., 1988), ribonuclease cleavage of mismatched bases (Myers et al., 1985), mass spectrometry (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,994,960, 7,074,563, and 7,198,893), nucleic acid sequencing, single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) (Orita et al., 1989), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) (Fischer and Lerman, 1979a; Fischer and Lerman, 1979b), temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) (Fischer and Lerman, 1979a; Fischer and Lerman, 1979b), restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) (Kan and Dozy, 1978a; Kan and Dozy, 1978b), oligonucleotide ligation assay (OLA), allele-specific PCR (ASPCR) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,611), ligation chain reaction (LCR) and its variants (Abravaya et al., 1995; Landegren et al., 1988; Nakazawa et al., 1994), flow-cytometric heteroduplex analysis (WO/2006/113590) and combinations or modifications thereof. Notably, gene expression levels may be determined by the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) technique (Velculescu et al., 1995). In general, the methods for analyzing genetic aberrations are reported in numerous publications, not limited to those cited herein, and are available to skilled practitioners. The appropriate method of analysis will depend upon the specific goals of the analysis, the condition/history of the patient, and the specific cancer(s), diseases or other medical conditions to be detected, monitored or treated. The forgoing references are incorporated herein for their teachings of these methods.

Kits for Obtaining Nucleic Acids

The present invention is also directed to a kit for obtaining nucleic acids from biological samples. The kit may comprise an affinity agent; an extraction enhancement agent; and a lysis buffer. In some embodiments, the affinity agent is capable of binding to one or more markers listed in Table 1 or Table 2.

In some instances, the kit may further comprise instructions for using the kit. Instructions for using the kit may be put in the package with the other kit components or in a different location accessible to a kit user (e.g., on a website or webpage accessible to the kit purchaser). The content of the instructions may include, but is not limited to, instructions for how to use the affinity agent, how to perform an affinity exclusion operation, how to reconstitute reagents, how to do the nucleic acid enhancement, how to use the lysis buffer, and how to carry out the whole procedure of obtaining nucleic acids by using the kit.

In some embodiments of the kit, the extraction enhancement agent may be RNase inhibitor; protease; reducing agent; decoy substrate; soluble receptor; small interfering RNA; RNA binding molecule; RNase denaturing substance; or any combination of any of the foregoing.

In some embodiments, affinity agent is suitable for performing an exclusion operation, and instructions included in or with the kit comprise instructions for using the affinity agent in an affinity exclusion operation. Kits of this nature may further comprise a second affinity agent, and instructions for using the second affinity agent in an affinity enrichment operation.

In additional embodiments, the kit may further comprise DNase, RNase, or both, and instructions for their use. These reagents may be used to eliminate DNA or RNA that is of no interest in the intended assay, e.g., DNA or RNA that clings to the outside of the nucleic acid-containing materials in the extraction. The amount of DNase or RNase may depend on the source of the biological sample. In some samples, the amount of DNA or RNA of no interest is relatively high, and therefore, more DNase or RNase will need to be added in the extraction process.

It should be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodologies, protocols and reagents, described herein, which may vary. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is defined solely by the claims.

While the present invention has been disclosed with reference to certain embodiments, numerous modifications, alterations, and changes to the described embodiments are possible without departing from the sphere and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but that it has the full scope defined by the language of the following claims, and equivalents thereof.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Nucleic Acid Extraction with Extraction Enhancement Operation

One variation of the invention is shown in FIG. 1, where the method comprises the steps of obtaining a biological sample (100), pre-processing the sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials (110), performing an extraction enhancement operation on the fraction (120), and extracting nucleic acid from the fraction (130).

Example 2 Nucleic Acid Extraction with Affinity Exclusion Operation

One variation of the invention is shown in FIG. 2, where the method comprises the steps of obtaining a biological sample (200), pre-processing the sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials (210), performing an affinity exclusion operation (220), and extracting nucleic acids from the affinity reduced fraction (230).

Example 3 Nucleic Acid Extraction with Extraction Enhancement Operation and Affinity Exclusion Operation

One variation of the invention is shown in FIG. 3, where the method comprises the steps of obtaining a biological sample (300), pre-processing the sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials (310), performing an affinity exclusion operation (320), performing an extraction enhancement operation (330), and extracting nucleic acids.

Example 4 Nucleic Acid Extraction and Analysis from a Heterogeneous Collection of Nucleic Acid-Containing Materials

Heterogeneous collections of nucleic acid-containing materials can be isolated from a biological sample from a subject that has or is suspected to have cancer. A urine sample is collected from the subject. In the pre-processing step, a fraction containing nucleic acid-containing materials is enriched by centrifugation or filtration from the urine. The resulting fraction contains a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials, which includes a mixture of microvesicles and cells in addition to other nucleic acid-containing materials. This fraction is then incubated with extraction enhancement agents, such as RNase inhibitors, to prevent or mitigate those factors that may prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction. Then, the fraction is subjected to an affinity enrichment operation to enrich for the potential circulating tumor cells and microvesicles of particular interest. A surface antigen carried by both the circulating tumor cells and microvesicles is used to select for and purify these particular nucleic acid-containing materials from the remaining mixture. Nucleic acids from the purified circulating tumor cells and microvesicles are extracted and analyzed for the presence, absence, or levels of genetic aberrations that are associated with the presence or absence of malignant cancer; or stage or grade of the tumor from which the cells and microvesicles may have originated from.

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1. A method of extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising the steps of: a) obtaining a biological sample; b) performing a sample pre-processing step on the biological sample to obtain a fraction comprising a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials, wherein the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials comprises cells or microvesicles, or both; c) performing an operation selected from i) an extraction enhancement operation; ii) an affinity exclusion operation; and iii) an extraction enhancement operation and an affinity exclusion operation; and d) extracting nucleic acid from the resulting materials. 2-3. (canceled)
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein a marker listed in Table 1 or Table 2 is used in the affinity exclusion operation.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising an affinity enrichment operation.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein a marker listed in Table 1 or Table 2 is used in the affinity enrichment operation.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the biological sample is a bodily fluid.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the bodily fluid is urine.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the bodily fluid is serum or plasma.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the extraction enhancement operation comprises: a) the addition of one or more of the following agents to the biological sample: (i) RNase inhibitor; (ii) protease; (iii) reducing agent; (iv) decoy substrate, such as synthetic RNA; (v) soluble receptor; (vi) small interfering RNA, (vii) RNA binding molecule, such as anti-RNA antibody, chaperone protein, or an RNase inhibitory protein; (viii) RNase denaturing substance, such as high osmolarity solution, detergent; or b) the performance of one or more of the following steps prior to nucleic acid extraction: (ix) washing; (x) size-separating RNase from the sample; (xi) effecting RNase denaturation through a physical change, such as by decreasing temperature, freeze/thaw cycle; or c) any combination of the foregoing agents or steps.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the extraction enhancement operation comprises the addition of an RNase inhibitor.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the RNase inhibitor has a concentration of greater than [1×] concentration; alternatively, greater than or equal to [5×] concentration; alternatively, greater than or equal to [10×] concentration; alternatively, greater than or equal to [25×] concentration; and alternatively, greater than or equal to [50×] concentration.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the RNase inhibitor is a protease.
 14. A nucleic acid extraction from a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials taken from a biological sample, wherein the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials comprise cells or microvesicles, and wherein the quantitative ratio of 18S rRNA to 28S rRNA detectable in the extraction is within the range of approximately 1:1 to approximately 1:2; and is preferably approximately 1:2.
 15. A nucleic acid extraction from a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials taken from a biological sample, wherein the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials comprise cells or microvesicles, and wherein the nucleic acid yield is greater than or equal to 50 pg/ml from 1 ml or 20 ml of biological sample.
 16. (canceled)
 17. A kit for extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising: a) an affinity agent; b) an extraction enhancement agent; and c) a lysis buffer.
 18. The kit of claim 17, wherein the biological sample is a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials, wherein the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials comprise cells or microvesicles, or both c).
 19. The kit of claim 17, wherein the affinity agent is capable of binding to one or more markers listed in Table 1 or Table
 2. 20. The kit of claim 19, further comprising DNase, RNase, or both.
 21. The kit of claim 19, further comprising instructions for using the kit located either in the package with the other kit components or in a different location accessible to a kit user.
 22. The kit of claim 19, wherein the extraction enhancement agent is selected from the group consisting of: a) RNase inhibitor; b) protease; c) reducing agent; d) decoy substrate; e) soluble receptor; f) small interfering RNA; g) RNA binding molecule; h) RNase denaturing substance; or i) a combination of any of the foregoing.
 23. A kit for extracting nucleic acid from a biological sample, comprising: a) an affinity agent; b) optionally, a lysis buffer or an extraction enhancement agent; and c) instructions for using the kit, located either in the package with the other kit components or in a different location accessible to a kit user, wherein the instructions comprise instructions for using the affinity agent in an affinity exclusion operation.
 24. The kit of claim 23, wherein the biological sample is a heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials, wherein the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing material comprise cells or microvesicles, or both c).
 25. The kit of claim 23, further comprising a second affinity agent, and instructions for using the second affinity agent in an affinity enrichment operation.
 26. The kit of claim 23, further comprising an extraction enhancement agent, and instructions for its use.
 27. The kit of claim 23, further comprising DNase, RNase, or both and instructions for their use.
 28. The use of the nucleic acid extraction method of claim 1 in patient diagnostics, prognostics, theranostics, monitoring, predictive medicine, personalized medicine, integrated medicine, pharmacodiagnostics or companion diagnostics.
 29. The use of claim 28, wherein the nucleic acid obtained from practice of the extraction method is analyzed for the presence or absence of a genetic aberration associated with a disease or other medical condition.
 30. The method of claim 1, wherein the heterogeneous collection of nucleic acid-containing materials comprises cells or microvesicles, or both. 